Eurogas 1st European Renewable Gas Conference ‘European Renewable Gas: Evolution or Revolution?’

The Eurogas 1st European Renewable Gas Conference European Renewable Gas: Evolution or Revolution? took place on 6 July 2023 (15:00 – 18:00 CET) in Brussels (Le Bouche à Oreille, Place van Meyel 16).

In the context of the Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Market Package and the REPowerEU, the conference addressed the challenges in scaling up renewable hydrogen and biomethane to deliver our climate objective in 2030 and 2050.

The conference was followed by the Annual Renewable Gas Barbecue on the premises.

Partners

Programme
15:00 - 15:15

Welcome speech

Speakers

Didier Holleaux

Didier Holleaux

President, Eurogas
Biography
Didier Holleaux
President, Eurogas

After graduating as an Engineer (Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Mines de Paris), Didier HOLLEAUX started to work as an Engineer in the car-manufacturing and in the oil industry. He then made a career in the French Civil Service which led him to the position of head of the departmental staff (“Directeur de Cabinet”) of the Energy Minister (1992-1993).

Didier HOLLEAUX joined Gaz de France (merged in GDF SUEZ in 2008 and renamed as ENGIE in 2015), in 1993. Since then, he held different managing positions in the transmission, distribution, and LNG businesses of the company. He also founded and managed the North Sea Exploration and Production (1997-2000) and managed the worldwide Exploration and Production of the group (2007-2015). Since 1st of July 2015, he is Executive Vice President of ENGIE. He is currently in charge of special projects particularly in the field of renewable gases and external representation.

Didier HOLLEAUX has been elected President of Eurogas in June 2021.

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15:15 - 15:30

Keynote speeches

Speakers

MEP Ville Niinistö

Greens/EFA, European Parliament
Biography
MEP Ville Niinistö
Greens/EFA, European Parliament

Ville Niinistö is a Member of the European Parliament. He is the Greens/EFA groups coordinator in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and a member of the Committee on Environment.

Niinistö served as Finland’s Minister of the Environment from 2011 to 2014. Niinistö is a former member of the Finnish parliament, former party leader of the Green Party of Finland and a current member of the city council of Turku.

Niinistö has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Turku. Before being elected to the parliament in 2007 he worked as a doctoral student in political history (Finnish foreign policy) at the University of Turku in Finland.

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Kadri Simson

Kadri Simson

European Commissioner for Energy, European Commission
Biography
Kadri Simson
European Commissioner for Energy, European Commission

Kadri Simson is an Estonian politician from the Centre Party. She is serving as a European Commissioner for Energy in the Von der Leyen Commission since 1 December 2019.
She was previously the Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in Jüri Ratas’ first cabinet from 2016 to 2019. During the Estonian Presidency in the Council of the EU, Simson chaired both energy ministers and transport ministers meetings in TTE Council and ministers of economy format in EU Competitiveness Council.
From 2007–2016 Kadri Simson was a member of the 11th, 12th, and 13th Riigikogu and in 2019 she was also elected to the 14th Riigikogu. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from University College London.

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15:30 - 16:00

Spotlight: Beyond emission free energy: Unlocking the Full Potential of Renewable Gases

Speakers

Zoltan Elek

Zoltan Elek

CEO, Landwärme
Biography
Zoltan Elek
CEO, Landwärme

Zoltan Elek graduated from the Technical University of Munich after completing a degree in Electrical Engineering, where he majored in Energy Technology. He is also a graduate of the Center for Digital Technology and Management at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, participated in an MBA program in cooperation with the University of California (Berkeley), and completed an executive program at Harvard Business School. After working for notable names such as E.ON Engineering, Stadtwerke München public utility company, and McKinsey & Company, Mr. Elek founded Landwärme in 2007 and is now the CEO of the Germany-based company. Landwärme is a biomethane supplier active in the European market. With a trading portfolio of more than 2.5 TWh, the company is the leading biomethane trader in Europe today. Besides trading, Landwärme also plans and operates biogas upgrading plants and offers services along the entire biomethane value chain. Not only is Mr. Elek’s company a pioneer in the German market, it is also building bridges between Eastern and Western Europe and doing away with obstacles that currently stand in the way of an integrated European market for renewable gas. Landwärme played a vital role in the successful implementation of the first Eastern European biomethane plant in Hungary, for example. In all, Mr. Elek offers a wealth of experience in, and well-founded knowledge of, the biomethane industry and markets in Europe. He actively participates in the discourse surrounding renewable energies and biomethane in particular and has given numerous presentations at both German and European events.

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16:30 - 17:00

Panel 1 – Hydrogen in Europe: Leading the way?

Speakers

Giulia Forgnone

Senior Public Affairs Manager, European Aluminium
Biography
Giulia Forgnone
Senior Public Affairs Manager, European Aluminium

Giulia is a public affairs professional with over eight years of experience in EU climate and energy policy, institutional relations and communications. She currently works as a Senior Public Affairs Manager at European Aluminium, the association representing the whole aluminium value chain in Europe, which she joined in September 2022. Before, she worked as Policy Manager at Euroheat & Power (EHP), the European district heating and cooling association. Giulia has a wide range of experience in the EU climate and energy fields, including positions in a global public affairs consultancy, the European Parliament, the European think tank Friends of Europe, and the European Climate Foundation. She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Kent and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science & International Relations from Valle d’Aosta University. Giulia is an Italian native speaker who also speaks English, French and Spanish.

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Mercè Labordena

Senior Manager, Policy & Funding, Smartenergy
Biography
Mercè Labordena
Senior Manager, Policy & Funding, Smartenergy

Mercè is a Senior Manager at Smartenergy with over 10 years of experience shaping carbon reduction strategies, with expertise in government relations, policy, finance, research, and engineering. Smartenergy is a Swiss-based investment company developing and structuring a GW-scale solar PV portfolio in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany and a pipeline of renewable-based hydrogen projects in the same markets. At Smartenergy, she is part of the CTO organization and brings these renewable energy and hydrogen projects to the next stage of development.

Previously, she worked as a Senior Policy Advisor at SolarPower Europe, the European solar industry association, and the Climate Policy Group at ETH Zurich, where she obtained her PhD in Climate Policy. She holds a Double Degree MSc in Renewable Energy, specialising in Energy Innovation and Energy Engineering

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Anja Benz

Senior Regulatory Advisor P2X, Ørsted
Biography
Anja Benz
Senior Regulatory Advisor P2X, Ørsted

Anja Benz is Senior Regulatory Advisor at Orsted where she is responsible for regulatory matters related to Power-to-X including hydrogen at European and German level. Prior to joining Orsted two years ago, she worked as a Consultant at the Strategy consulting firm Roland Berger advising both companies along the entire hydrogen value chain as well as public sector clients. She holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Mannheim and a Master’s in Public Policy from Sciences Po Paris.

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Marcel Steinbach

Marcel Steinbach

Senior Vice President, SEFE Securing Energy for Europe
Biography
Marcel Steinbach
Senior Vice President, SEFE Securing Energy for Europe

Marcel Steinbach is a financial economist and has been working as a consultant, trader and head of BDEW’s energy trading department.

Since January 2023, he is supporting SEFE’s CEO, Dr Egbert Laege, in all regulatory matters and heads the Regulatory Affairs Department.

He focusses on accelerating the group’s renewable agenda to enable SEFE’s Customers to move towards new gases and hydrogen.

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Jeroen Schuppers

Jeroen Schuppers

Senior expert clean energy transition, Clean Planet Directorate, DG Research, European Commission
Biography
Jeroen Schuppers
Senior expert clean energy transition, Clean Planet Directorate, DG Research, European Commission

Jeroen Schuppers is Senior Expert in the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation within the European Commission. His unit supports research and innovation on all aspects of the clean energy transition.

Jeroen Schuppers holds a degree in geology from Utrecht University and a PhD from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Before joining the European Commission in 2002, he held positions in the Geological Survey of the Netherlands and in the TNO Institute of Applied Geoscience.

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17:00 - 17:30

Story: e-NG, bridging the gap between renewable molecules

Speakers

Marco Alverà

CEO, TES
17:30 - 18:00

Panel 2 – Biomethane in Europe: Scaling up?

Speakers

Catherine Leboul-Proust

Director of strategy, GRDF
Biography
Catherine Leboul-Proust
Director of strategy, GRDF

Catherine Leboul-Proust is Chief Strategy Officer of GRDF and a member of the executive committee of the company. She oversees institutional relations, strategic studies, CSR as well as international development.
She has over 20 years of experience in the industrial and energy sector where she held various positions in the fields of institutional relations, corporate social responsibility, change and organisational management. Prior to GRDF in 2016, she was the former executive secretary of LYDEC, a subsidiary of SUEZ based in Casablanca (Morocco), in charge of the animation of social governance, the corporate project, the internal audit and the development departments.
She holds a master’s degree in law from University of Lyon III, and is graduated from Sciences Po

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Asif Rehmanwala

Chief Executive Officer, Ecotricity
Biography
Asif Rehmanwala
Chief Executive Officer, Ecotricity

Asif’s career started working in Ofgem, UK’s energy regulator. After 3 years he moved to Powergen/E.ON – the World’s largest investor-owned utility spending 10 years there in the UK along with International involvement.

Asif has spent over 10 years at Ecotricity, the World’s first renewable energy company) and Forest Green Rovers Football Club (FGR) – the World’s greenest Football Club. He was recently also appointed as CEO of Green Britain Group (GBG) and Vice-Chairman of FGR.

Ecotricity has been in the UK market for over 25 years, supplies 100% green electricity for its customers and reinvests profits to build and generate renewable energy.

The focus of the Green Britain Group (GBG) is at the forefront of the global green industrial revolution. Forward-thinking, innovative, low-carbon, our businesses are pioneers in new green economy.

The companies in the group are fighting the climate crisis by offering consumers and businesses another way of doing things in the industries that create the most atmospheric carbon – energy, transport and food.

Companies in GBG include: Skydiamond, Ecotalk, Britwind, Devils Kitchen and FGR.

Asif has significant Executive and Non-Executive Board level experience.

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Tom Howes

Adviser Green Transition and Market Regulation, DG ENER, European Commission
Biography
Tom Howes
Adviser Green Transition and Market Regulation, DG ENER, European Commission

Tom Howes is the Advisor to the Director in the energy department of the European Commission responsible for the Green Transition and Energy System Integration, including electricity market design. Until June 2022 he was head of the Energy and Environment Division at the International Energy Agency (IEA), leading work on energy sector resilience, and supporting COP26/27. In the past he has worked on renewable energy market and grid integration issues, energy modelling, and energy finance, for the European Commission and for the UK and Australian governments.

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Boyana Achovski

Boyana Achovski

Secretary General, Gas Infrastructure Europe
Biography
Boyana Achovski
Secretary General, Gas Infrastructure Europe

Boyana Achovski is the Secretary-General of Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), a role she has held since September 2016. GIE is the European association of gas transmission, gas storage, and LNG regasification terminal operators. Boyana led the Analysis and International Operations Division in Bulgartransgaz, later joining GIE in 2012 as the first secondment of the Bulgarian gas infrastructure operator to the European association. She chaired the GasNaturally Steering Committee twice in 2017 and 2019. Boyana started her European affairs career in the European Parliament in Brussels. She has graduated in International Economic Affairs, specialised in International Finance, and holds a Master’s degree in Finance and in Management of International Associations from the Solvay Brussels School. Boyana has also obtained a certificate in Women’s Leadership from the University of Oxford and is involved in initiatives related to career development, women empowerment, and gender equality in the energy sector. In 2022 Boyana graduated from INSEAD with a diploma in Executive Coaching and continues focusing on the career support of talents in the industry.

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